For a duo that was experiencing interpersonal strife and on the verge of a break-up, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel still proved that they could produce a real gem.\u00a0 1970\u2019s Bridge Over Troubled Water<\/i> was by far the best quality and most consistent record they produced together, and it makes a true fan and music lover wish they had overcome their differences to do it all over again.\u00a0 By 1970, Simon & Garfunkel had become touchstones in the folk rock arena.\u00a0 But Bridge Over Troubled Water<\/i> was more than a folk rock record.\u00a0 It was a stellar studio production and a showcase of some of Simon\u2019s best songwriting.\u00a0 In some songs, the hints of what would become Simon\u2019s reincarnation in world music can be heard.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
The opening and title track starts with a powerful gospel piano introduction that immediately sets this album apart from any other Simon & Garfunkel project.\u00a0 Beginning slow and building to a high crescendo that has Art Garfunkel singing in the rafters, this tune raises goosebumps and the vocal register and the strings go ever higher and higher.\u00a0 From this high perch, we fall into a soft, lilting mandolin tremolo that introduces \u201cEl Condor Pasa (If I Could),\u201d which is a Peruvian folk song backed by the Peruvian group Los Incas.\u00a0 It is the first glimpse fans got into Simon\u2019s world music future.<\/p>\n
“Cecilia” is also drenched in a world music sound because of its percussiveness.\u00a0 Every instrument \u2013 from acoustic guitar, to hand clapping, to xylophone to piano \u2013 acts as percussion over a catchy melody.\u00a0 \u00a0While \u201cCecilia\u201d appears minimalist in its instrumentation, even sounding sonically crude, the song is impressively complex and matched the full sound that the rest of the album achieves.\u00a0 \u201cKeep The Customer Satisfied\u201d and \u201cBaby Driver\u201d are very similar songs.\u00a0 They have each have excellent rhythm and infectious melodies.\u00a0 The punch and pertinence of the brass section in \u201cCustomer\u201d will penetrate your brain, almost like the cacophony of demanding customer that Simon is singing about (for a song ostensibly written about the grind of touring and production in the music business, this is particularly appropriate).<\/p>\n
As if the album needed songs more beautiful than “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” Simon wrote \u201cThe Boxer\u201d and “The Only Living Boy in New York.”\u00a0 \u201cThe Boxer\u201d was the first song recorded that ended up on the album and was released as a single nearly a full year before the album.\u00a0 While sounding demure and soft before building to a powerful final chorus of \u201clie-lie-lie,\u201d the twin finger picked guitars, played by Simon and Fred Carter, Jr. are astoundingly gorgeous (take a listen with headphones).\u00a0 “The Only Living Boy in New York” is another lovely song whose \u201cah\u201d refrain is rich and full enough on its own to have been used in a 2011 Honda commercial.\u00a0 Paul Simon\u2019s artificially double tracked lead vocals, with one track panned hard right and the other left, make it another fun song for the headphones.<\/p>\n
While “So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright” could just as well be a throw away, the humorous “Why Don’t You Write Me” which would appear to be, is not.\u00a0 The final two songs, \u201cBye Bye Love\u201d and \u201cSong For The Asking,\u201d are perfect for bringing the Simon & Garfunkel collaboration full circle, from their youth and early career inspired by the Everly Brothers to a quiet song assuring the listener that he will play and you will take the love the song offers.\u00a0 Even though the duo has not given the world new material since this album, their several reunion concert appearances have kept audiences asking over and over again.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Producers are sometimes easy to over look, but Roy Halee cannot escape mention in this review.\u00a0 Halee produced the record along with Simon and Garfunkel, and much of the full sound and nuanced production can be attributed to his keen sonic sense and technical ability.\u00a0 He had the talent as a producer (and engineer) to bring out what Simon wanted in his tracks.\u00a0 And that is one of the greatest successes of Bridge Over Troubled Water<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":28217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7683],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-42831","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-simon-garfunkel","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42831"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}